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A Maasai community-led livelihood renewal project for a vibrant and healthy ecosystem in Amboseli, Kenya

A surprising initiation of the project

Early summer 2017, in my Facebook Messenger, Janice Nkoyato Mutui appears:Hello Frank; hello Janice, where are you from?; from Kenya; what are you doing?; I am beading; – picture of a necklace appears in the screen -; looks like a Maasai necklace; I am a Maasai woman;
from the city?; no, a small village; – picture of a hut appears -;
we women build the huts; is that you on the roof?; no, that’s my mother; you study?; no, I wish, my mother can’t afford it;
what do you want to study?; want to become a diplomat; for your people?; yes, for my people;
I have good news for you; you could become Ambassador for the Embassy of the Earth, our foundation; Wow!;
know anything about growing crops, herding etc.?; yes I do,five of our cows died this week; Drought?; yes, terrible drought for the longest time!

In that same instant I connected Janice to my friend Wim van Immerzeel who, for two years, is running a program called Greening Africa in Tanzania with the Pachamama Raymi approach (see annex 1), a concept proven to be successful for many years in Peru. Only a half day away from the Amboseli region and the village of Inchurra in Kenya where Janice lives, Wim encounters similar challenges with drought and livestock, degraded land, struggling communities and also indigenous communities.

Seeing is believing

Soon thereafter, a small delegation of Maasai people visited Wim’s project in Tanzania, their trip sponsored by the Embassy of the Earth. Talking to their Tanzanian peers, the Maasai delegation is soon convinced: “This is what we need in Amboseli!” They witnessed livelihoods shifting for the better, energized people, impressive collaboration and above all tangible results. Nurseries, fodderbanks for the cows and goats, hardwood and nut trees, improved homesteads, handmade waterwells and much more. Communities taking life back into their own hands, building their own futures. Read more >>

During the COP21 in Paris December 2015 another gathering took place on the other side of Paris, at Chateau de Millemont. The dynamics of the COP21 at le Bourget – emissions, CO2, temperature, negotiations – will run its course. We felt that the fine energies that Ceremonies and Gatherings generate at Millemont – and many other places around the Globe -, will certainly touch and effect Le Bourget and far beyond.

Ceremonies and Collective Imagination: Future of Earth

A group of people came to France of which each person carried a ‘strand’ of the Human Tribe. What counts is all colors, all pieces, not the more the better. Indigenous Elders, Clan Mothers, from all directions of the world played an important role. They preserve Earth’s wisdom, natural laws and therefore hold part of the solution. But also Scientists, Youth, People of Faith, Entrepreneurs, special Wisdom Keepers, Artists came together to listen, speak and imagine the emergence of the Future of the Earth. Silence, songs and ceremonies, and also creativity, discussion and stories gave direction to a possible and desirable future of our ‘Mother Earth’. Inspiring us, wanting to put the effort in and create movement. As an Unfolding New Story.

This narrative, unfolding new story as the fabric giving the outcomes and actions of the UN climate agreements a context. Embracing all the other efforts, initiatives, experiments and good practices that we already see happening all over the world. And strengthening us in the challenges ahead.